Sunday, March 18, 2007

Vegetarian Laksa (without shallot)

Laksa is spicy noodle soup which is very popular in Singapore and Malaysia. Shrimp paste, dried shrimps and cockles are the important ingredients used in cooking laksa. This vegetarian recipe takes away the shrimps and uses straw mushrooms to substitute the cockles.

Preparation: 30 mins Cooking time: 30 mins


Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g rice vermicelli or hokkien mee, blanched
° 80g beansprout, tailed and blanched
° 2 pieces tofu puff (big), sliced
° 300ml fresh coconut milk
° 4 vegetarian fishballs (optional)
° 500ml water
° 40g laksa leaves (with stalk)
° 10 straw mushrooms, halve
° a small handful finely shredded laksa leaves
° salt and sugar, to taste

Laksa Paste (makes 75g)
° 6 dried chilli, chopped
° 3 stalk lemon grass, peel off outer layers, cut out 7.5cm, chopped
° 25-30g galangal, chopped
° ¾ thumb-sized fresh turmeric, chopped
° 2-3 candle nuts, chopped
° 1½ teaspoons vegetarian belacan
° 5-6 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying
° ½ teaspoon salt
° 1 teaspoon sugar

Method
1. Grind laksa paste ingredients until fine and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan. Add the laksa paste and fry for 10 minutes or until thickened and fragrant. Set aside.
3. Place the laksa leaves and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Remove all the laksa leaves with a slotted spoon and discard. Stir in the laksa paste, coconut milk, tofu puffs, vegetarian fishballs and bring to a boil. Season with salt and sugar to taste.
4. To serve, divide beansprouts, rice vermicelli/hokkien mee and straw mushrooms between serving bowls. Ladle the laksa soup into individual serving bowls and sprinkle some shredded laksa leaves.

Tip
1. To make vegetarian cockles, place 10 straw mushrooms (halve or sliced) in a pot. Stir in 3½ tablespoons light soy sauces, 4 tablespoons water, 2 tablespoons sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer until sauces thicken. Unsweetened soy milk can be used to replace coconut milk, if desired.

2 comments:

  1. Hi - just came across your recipe for Vegetarian Laksa. Was wondering where you can find vegetarian belacan? What brands exist, etc. I'm in NYC, and trying to create an authentic tasting vegan Penang Rojak...the type with the black, shiny sauce. (That stuff is so good!) Thanks in advance for any information!

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  2. Hi Gaijingirl

    The Vegetarian Belacan that we get in Singapore is the product of malaysia. Not sure you can get them in NYC. The Info :)

    Name : Tradisi Balacang Sayuran (salted bean curd)

    Ingredient: Soya Bean, Salt

    Weight : 50g (powder form), 130g (in ball form)

    Manufactured by: YH Khor Enterprise

    Distributed by : Foo Yuan Vegetarian SDN. BHD. (473018-v)
    9 Jalan Industri Cherok Tokun
    Kawasan Industri Cherok Tokun Jaya
    14000 Bukit Mertajam P.W Penang
    Tel: 04-5521339/ 5521340
    Fax: 04-5518162

    For Rojak, we can the buy vegetarian Rojak sauce here, that simplified lots of the work and it taste real nice. The picture of the rojak sauce http://crystalbyblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/rojak-spicy-salad.html


    Happy new year :)
    Cheers :)

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